A GUY'S VIEW

“Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds.” – Bob Marley

We are in the season of emancipation. Every year we speak of emancipation but this is merely a perfunctory discourse. Were it not for Crop Over celebrations, July 26 and August 1 would pass without the slightest acknowledgement.

Slavery was abolished as a formal institution on August 1, 1834. In order to buy further time, an apprenticeship system was introduced, so that it was not until four years later, in 1838, that emancipation became a reality. In a country, sorry, colony like Barbados, intensely cultivated and with no mountains to run to, this brought little change.

The history of the descendants of those emancipated slaves speaks volumes of the meaninglessness of the term emancipation. Nearly two hundred years later, for many, their emancipation remains a dream that is yet to be realised.

We celebrate Black History month in February, not because that month holds any significance for Barbadians as a people or for black people as a race. This date has been set for us and we obey. Were such celebrations really of us, the Season of Emancipation would be the period when it would be celebrated.

But is it not a little ridiculous that a black people in a predominantly black country, would choose to celebrate themselves for one month a year? What does that say about those people? What mirror image do we have of ourselves? Clearly, too many of us may reasonably be described as a people of no self-worth or strength of character. If we look closely, we may very well recognise that for some of us, we are no further removed from slavery than our fore parents were on August 2, 1834.

Our selfishness allows us to celebrate our mediocre accomplishments, although our brothers are still in chains mentally. Our self-centredness is almost a sickness. If there is any good news where this is concerned, it is that our disregard of each other may not yet be inherent. It comes from the encouragement we have been given to look away from each other the moment we believe that we have received the nod of approval from those who lord it over us.

Last week Monday, representatives of black workers joined with employers in an effort to force the Government to terminate black workers from their jobs. And some of the people that the Government is being pressured to fire joined the march against themselves. This is truly a unique phenomenon which should be studied by the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of the West Indies and other social scientists. The mind of the black Barbadian is worthy of study for the enlightenment that could be brought to oppressed people around the world.

July 26 is the Day of National Significance in Barbados. This date is reserved for this status because it was the date of the start of the revolt in 1937. This episode continues to be diminished by being described as a riot or disturbances. It is important that this description be maintained for it keeps the efforts of those progressive heroes and heroines in the realm of lawlessness.

The facts will show that the July 1937 effort was a revolt against an oppressive system. In a seminal research paper on the period, Dr. George Belle observed that the quality of the lives of ordinary Barbadians in 1937 was not far removed from life in 1837.

In 2017, a member of the class of oppressors felt emboldened to threaten the Prime Minister with social unrest if the Prime Minister did not bow and take his place at the feet of his superior. It was interesting that a person from that class could be sure of his ability to turn Barbados back to 1937 by using the people his parents oppressed to create social unrest. And the children of those oppressed masses and their union representatives joined him in what for them, would be an act of suicide.

Certainly, the physical living standards in 2017 Barbados bear no resemblance to 1837 nor 1937. There is little doubt, however, that we have regressed as a people in consciousness and clarity of direction. And based on last week’s demonstration, there may be no light at the end of the tunnel.

The best efforts of anti-slavery advocates did not succeed in ending slavery. Dr. Eric Williams, in his work, Capitalism and Slavery, explained that it was declining profitability which brought slavery to an end. Had it remained profitable, there would have been no official support for ending this dark institution. From the late 18th century until now, the fate of black people in this country, and probably in the entire region, has been determined by what is profitable for other people.

Workers’ unions were one of the products of the 1937 revolt. When one reads the speeches of that period, a clear picture emerges that the leaders of that movement understood what they were facing. With few exceptions, the enemy was white. In 2017, this may not always be the case. While there have been no defectors from the other side, the personal interest of many blacks has led them to change sides.

Unions, like any other interest group, are entitled to use the leverage available to them to promote the interests of their members. That includes organising marches, strikes and other lawful methods which may enable them to put their point across and obtain the results their desire. But no individual or group is entitled to destabilise the state in pursuit of their selfish ends.

When the state is threatened, it would be an abdication of duty for the powers that be to stand idly by and watch this treasonous activity progress. Were such to be allowed, one may very well have to ask the difficult question being asked by Americans now: did the governing administration collude with others to commit a crime against the state?

I have not seen an offence called social unrest in our criminal code. However, I know that there are common law offences, yet undefined, which form part of the residual power of the courts to protect the integrity of the state.

Demonstrations, marches, strikes and the like are all lawful and legitimate union activity. These are weapons that should not be taken away from unions. These union rights are circumscribed by higher national obligations which may come to the fore should the unions go too far. But there is a big gap between these legitimate activities and social unrest. Orchestrated social unrest is a seditious act, whether planned by unions or other individuals. Sedition is described as incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority. When the constitutional authority of the Cabinet of the country is threatened at the point of insurrection, the criminal law must be invoked. To do otherwise is to invite further chaos and rebellion.

Of course, once we have reached this stage, politics disappears. Our legal infrastructure provides for the permanently established law enforcement institutions to do their jobs in these circumstances. They must never have a political axe to grind.